Two little chunks of titanium rolled with Comply rubber tips are all that stand between me and listening to the television at nominal levels.

When amazon promises one day shipping you get one day shipping.

After a promising discussion with the newly minted singer of The Beatles about acoustic ear protection I decided to opt in for these Isolate Pro Titanium from Flare Audio with their promising “revolutionary ear protection” “noise blockers”. It was already past nine at night when we clicked and ordered, and this was a test [for Yours Truly] of the amazon promise. And it was in my mailbox by 10 a.m. Now that is why Fedex and Sears is going out of business.

Now I swear I can hear the roar of the ocean. “When fitted correctly, only bone conducting sound should be heard.

These blockers will be put to the test today at a roller derby bout in Royal City where the whistles will be loud and the audience crowd music may even be louder.

Do they feel comfortable? Yes, for now. Do they feel like their is something in your ears? Yes. What do we hear? Bit of the television volume from the commentary at the British Open and obviously the crowd is cheering from Rory McIlroy’s up and down putt.

A test I did try was playing Radiohead on my JVC portable cd player [they made those back then] and placing my Audio Technica ATH-M30x over top of my ears with the Isolate Pro in place. Even at maximum volume of 10 [this is not Spinal Tap] not much of the music could be heard.

At the Bay subway station on a summer night there was a young lady waiting for a train. It was hard not to notice the Joy Division shirt she was wearing.

The timing had to be more than coincidence [as Gibbs on NCSI says: “I don’t believe in coincidences”].

At the moment, we have been pouring over shelves of record stores acquiring the odd bits of Joy Division Substance [alas on 180 gm vinyl] and laughing along with the words of Peter Hook in Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division

and sighing over all the band histories so casually talked about in The Hacienda: How Not To Run A Club.

While still not having finished reading to the end of either in these early days, there is a reader’s wistfulness nonetheless knowing what is to come [there is no disguise to the fact by Peter Hook in Unknown Pleasures as he references the portrayals of singer and lyricist Ian Curtis in the two films 24 Hour Party People and Control].

Mike Scott and the Waterboys Whole of the Moon blasting out of the speakers.

We have talked a few times in the past Mike Scott and me, in person when The Waterboys opened for U2 and a set at the Diamond Club, and some old letters.

Sunday Bloody Sunday. New Year’s Day. Pride.

Was this going to be the original U2 setlist from twenty years ago? The last time U2 was One with the audience during Innocence and Experience U2 barely touched War or Unforgettable Fire. But hearing the songs from War conjured the memories of sitting in bleachers at CNE Exhibition Stadium peering past pillars and posts.